Author Archive: Admin

Northern Aug 2024

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NORTHERN REGION

Regional Contact Member – Emma Chester

The Great Yorkshire Show may not have been blessed with good weather but the entries were excellent for judge, Lesley Partridge, and congratulations to Ridout and Higginson for their champion shearling ewe and Ryan Edwards for his reserve champion shearling ram. An excellent after-show party was organised by Wendy Atkinson, Freda Fozzard and Sheila Wood with further contributions from members.

Looking forward, the Skipton Show and Sale will be held at the end of August and I hope to seeing many of you there.

Having recently taken over as the new Regional Contact member for the Northern Region, I am keen to hear from you regarding yourself and your flock. Please get in touch through whichever medium you like (even if I know you, I’d still love to hear and share your stories). It would be great to have your ideas for events/collaboration in the Northern Region – what would you like to see? I am setting up a committee and am looking for a range of members to join me. You can contact me via: email, Facebook, WhatsApp or even a letter. My mobile number is 07702104033 or email

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John and Wendy Atkinson with their group of three at Otley Show

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Betty Palmer’s great-granddaughter, Esmae Buckle, reading the Jacob Journal

Eastern Aug 2024

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EASTERN REGION

Regional Contact Member – Tom Green

With Summer here and the shows in full swing the Eastern region’s calendar of events kicked off with a well-attended Show Preparation Day at the Sandal family’s Glenbank flock, kindly sponsored by Showtime Supplies. George Sandall has kindly provided a few words on the day below so all I would like to add is a huge vote of thanks to George and Harry and of course Mum and Dad (Vicky and Richard) for having us and providing us with a superb barbecue lunch and to everyone who took the time to attend.

C:\Users\Clive\Downloads\Eastern Region Show Prep.jpg“After another wet week, the sun shone for our Eastern region show prep day (it truly was the most perfect weather. How we could have done with some more days like that this summer). We initially looked through the flock and discussed the characteristics to look for in choosing a show sheep. Kay Carpenter, Jean Simmons, Paula Bramley and David Tuffney kindly shared their knowledge and expertise in what to look for, followed by a trimming demonstration. Tom Green then demonstrated washing and carding. A BBQ lunch was enjoyed and the advice and conversations continued to flow through lunch. The afternoon involved ring craft with some useful tips and practical demonstrations. The day was very well attended by both well-known faces and also many new faces introduced to JSS showing and encouraged to enter the ring. Many thanks to all involved in a wonderful day! (Hear, hear George)”

Society president, Pat Black, presenting Vicky Sandall with a thank you gift at the Easter Region show preparation workshop

May saw some members compete in Any Other Breed classes at local shows. Gillian Christian took the reserve championship at Hadleigh Show beating Border Leicesters, Blue Faced Leicesters, Kerry Hills., and Lleyns in the process.

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Gillian Christian’s ewe lamb, reserve champion Any Other Short Wool Breed at Hadleigh Show

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Gillian Christian with her ewe, reserve champion at the Royal Norfolk Show

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David Tuffney’s champion aged ewe and Vicky Sandall’s reserve champion ewe lamb at Rutland show with the judge, Peter Gorringe

After losing our breed classes at the Suffolk Show I would like to thank the three exhibitors who turned out in the Other Native Breed classes to fly the Jacob flag, all of whom were rewarded with rosettes. Becky Fisher of the Church flock took 3rd place with her ram. Gillian Christian of the Briden flock took a 3rd place with her ram lamb and 4th with her ram and shearling ewe. Gilly Winchester of the Bacewell flock took a 4th with her ram lamb. Congratulations to the three of you and hopefully your support will lead to the reinstatement of breed classes next year.

It was ladies’ day at the first official show of the season at Rutland where Peter Gorringe of the Shutecombe flock found his champion in David and Jean Tuffney’s aged Kingsmore ewe with the Sandall family’s Glenbank ewe lamb in reserve. Congratulations to Sally Bothwell’s Buchanan ram lamb and Farmer Joe’s Fenland Shearling ewe who took first place in their respective classes. Farmer Joe was also well placed with his Fenland ram lamb in the Any Other Native breed class at the Lincolnshire Show.

Next up was The Royal Norfolk Show judged by Angela Gilbert. It was a fantastic show for the breed with Charlie and David Coe’s aged ram being tapped out in the breed classes before going on to stand reserve interbreed under the Society’s former official auctioneer Clive Roads of McCartneys, Worcester. This ram is Wneham Pict out of a homebred ewe and by Hyndshaw Borris and he was also breed champion at Heckington Show last year. In the breed classes Gillian Christian’s aged ewe was reserve overall while the Coe family took the reserve male and reserve female champions with a ram lambs and shearling ewe, while Becky Fisher took the red ribbon in the shearling ram class and Lisa Adams took the red rosette in the ewe lamb class. Many thanks also to the other exhibitors; Ben Coe, Debbie Gilks, Alan Smith and Gilly Winchester which culminated in an entry of over 30 Jacobs and a superb show of the breed.

Blaston Show held Jacob classes again this year and Jane Nightingale came over the Leicestershire border to win the championship with her shearling ewe, the Sandall family’s ewe lamb stood reserve. Finally Ashby Show was judged by John Dixon the weekend before the deadline for this article, and Jane Nightingale again took the championship with her shearling ram while Farmer Joe took reserve with his 4 horn ram lamb. Many Thanks to all the exhibitors from both the Eastern and Central Region for supporting the show.

Welcome to the new members in the region since the last Journal, Gilly Winchester – Bracewell Flock; Charlie and Emma Harrington – Buttercup Flock; Dawn and Norman Moore- Long Last flock; and Katherine Morley, I hope you all enjoy your time keeping Jacob sheep.

In my own flock the lambs have been gone through and the first fat lambs have been sold deadweight, weighing and grading well, however the £40 odd pound a lamb drop in price over the last month was less appreciated. Lambs for showing at Heckington have been selected and I will report on the regions final show of the season in the next issue.

Melton Mowbray Show and Sale is on the horizon over the 13th and 14th September. I have some lambs selected to go, I look forward to seeing as many of you there as possible. A social meal will be organised for the Friday evening with all welcome to attend. Before then my ewes will have been synchronised and tups will be in ready to start the cycle all over again for next year. Hopefully a flock assessment will take place within the region later in the autumn with a winter get together to announce the results.

In the meantime, if I can be of any assistance please do not hesitate to contact me – the regional email address is or my number is 07800 817850.

Ireland Aug 2024

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IRELAND REGION

Regional Contact member – Matthew Kehoe

Following on from one of the worst springs on record for agriculture the fruits of our breeders’ efforts are beginning to be harvested in the show rings and I am hopeful for their success at the sales this summer. Our two National Shows here on the island of Ireland have just passed with the best of the breed rising to the top and competing in the interbreed line-ups, with one interbreed reserve champion rosette won by a Jacob on the island so far this year. With most of the Northern Ireland shows passed already we now look to the south of Ireland with a large number of shows still to go.

We were kindly invited to hold a stand at the KEPAK Shearfest2024: All Ireland & All

Nations Sheep Shearing & Woolhandling Championships in Mountbellew, Co. Galway where the Harney family (Greenstar flock) devoted a whole weekend to building and manning the JSS stand with plenty of interest in the sheep on display. It was the perfect opportunity to debut our new leaflets designed by Lucy Fletcher (Stonecroft flock) for the Ireland region. We also received a donation of two banners advertising our 2024 show and sale dates from the Colhoun family

(Kingarrow flock) which are making the rounds at our shows across the island and providing invaluable advertising for our two upcoming sales.

Athlone Agricultural Show on the 16th of June saw the champion Jacob, a 2-year-old

homebred ewe from Matthew Kehoe’s Macamore flock tapped forward as one of three reserve champion animals alongside a Suffolk and a Commercial with a Blue Texel taking interbreed champion. This is the second year in a row that this ewe has taken home reserve champion at this show in front of a team of judges – a fantastic day for our breed.

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Matthew Kehoe’s champion aged ewe and Joseph Hughes’ reserve champion aged ram at Clonmel Show with the judge, Scott Dalrymple

As our region covers two countries with limited opportunity to show sheep either side

of the border we therefore run two National Shows over the course of one weekend. On Saturday 6th of July all roads led to the Omagh Show where we held the first of our two Nationals. Our judge, Mr Robert Price from Wales (Pentre flock), had the task of judging the 8 classes of Jacob sheep on display. With over 60 sheep exhibited and what you might call damp conditions at times credit must go to both judge and exhibitors for braving the conditions…with only a brief interim in proceedings as we called a halt to judging and hid in the JSS tent. As the rain cleared again, we saw some of the best Jacobs in Northern Ireland compete for the coveted JSS rosette at our National Show. After some deliberation the championship was awarded to the Colhoun

family’s 2 year old ewe ‘Kingarrow Lily’ with Adrian Hamilton’s very smart two horn Beltrim ram lamb in reserve. Flying the flag for the four horned animals was Anne Moore’s 1st place Dunbreen ewe lamb taking home the second reserve rosette. To finish off a fantastic morning of showing we saw our young handlers in great numbers compete at both primary and secondary school level. I’d also like to acknowledge our own Dabhan Harkin for volunteering to steward the Jacob section while still managing to exhibit his two ewe lambs on the day.

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The Colhoun family’s champion aged ewe and the Jamieson family’s reserve champion ewe lamb with the judge, Wyn Harries, at the Balmoral Show

The following day at Clonmel Agricultural Show we saw another entry of over 60 sheep turned out for our judge, JSS vice-chairperson, Mr Scott Dalrymple who travelled from the Dunmor flock in Scotland. With the sun high in the sky a quilted canopy of tents sheltered us. We saw our judge deliberate over the 8 classes of Jacob sheep on display with Matthew Kehoe’s 2-year-old ewe ‘Macamore Black Beauty’ tapped forward as champion Jacob with Joseph Hughes’ 2-year-old ram ‘Beltrim Karter’ in reserve. It’s a testament to the breed to see the number and quality of animals on display at our National Shows and it is always encouraging to see breeders young and old, experienced and novice, helping each other and enjoying the craic in showing our breed. It was clear to see recently at the relatively urban Flavours of Fingal Show in Donabate, Co. Dublin, this month that our agricultural shows are our shop window and that the general public flock towards the Jacobs in the pens. From our own flock we brought a small number of Jacobs to the ‘Any Other Breed’ section and we were delighted to take home the champion ‘Any Other Breed’ rosette, much to the delight of the crowd who had spent the day petting, talking to and taking photographs with the Jacobs. Days like this highlight to me the importance of turning out our sheep to the best of our ability and being aware of how we handle our stock in the ring – all eyes are always on you and your stock at a show. I would appeal to breeders to recognise the social good in displaying our sheep to the general public and if you have time in the pens to engage, answer questions and give them a window into our world. It’s something that we often take for granted in the farming community but for many folk the opportunity to see, handle and photograph animals is not a day to day luxury. How people perceive agriculture and food production can be greatly influenced by their family day out at an agricultural show, lets show them livestock

production at it’s finest.

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Ady Hamilton’s reserve champion ram lamb at Omagh Show

Paul Colhoun and I are currently putting together the remaining entries for inclusion in the Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland official sales respectively. By the time the Journal reaches you they will have passed and if the quality of stock is anything like what we saw last year I’m sure we will be looking back on another year of record prices for the region and good clearances. For many of us the sales are the one time of year where we see a financial return for our labours, buy new breeding stock and most importantly meet up for a chat with old friends. If you’ve missed the

official sales this year why not consider supporting one of our in-lamb sales in November and December (details to follow on the JSS website). In the mean time I’d like to wish you all a mild autumn and a successful breeding season.

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Anne Moore’s ewe lamb which won its class at Omagh Show

Scotland Aug 2024

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SCOTTISH REGION

Regional Contact member – Melanie Harper

Can you believe by the time you read this we will probably have our rams out, seems like only two minutes since the lambs were running round the lambing shed and we were picking out our show teams and sale lambs. The summer seems to of passed us by with only a small splash of sunshine. C:\Users\Clive\Downloads\Scotsheep.jpg

The Jacob Sheep Society stand at Scotsheep

Many thanks to Barbara and her team who set up the stand for NSA Scotsheep, after a small admin error the Jacob Society managed to get a good spot for the stand next to some higher profile breeds which attracted a steady flow of visitors. We are still putting our new breed promotion stand together as the photos for the double sided stand need to be of exceptional quality as the photos will be blown up on the canvas. Barbara has a great deal of knowledge in this field, so we are guided by her.

The show season kicked off with the National Show at Fife, thanks to Linda McKendrick who kindly sponsored the prize money for the National. Barbara kindly donated the glass trophy too. Siwan Harries and husband, Wyn, pushed up their airmiles as Wyn had been judging in Ireland then both travelled to Scotland for Fife show. A great display of Jacobs was presented for Siwan to judge. On the day her champion choice went to Dunmor’s aged ewe and reserve spot went to Ewen MacMillan’s ram lamb. Next year our National Show will be held at – watch this space.

The next big one was the Royal Highland Show, and this year’s judge was Nicola Fletcher. Although numbers were down from the previous year the quality of Jacobs on show were there to be seen. Nicola’s champion came from the Dunmor team, their now aged ram put on the blue sash once again. The reserve championship went to Barbara Webster’s ram lamb. Female champion was awarded to Robert Locker’s shearling ewe. A full report will be included in this Journal. The entry and exit of stock seemed to feel easier as we are now diverted through the trade stands, and we miss the busy area down by the shearing tent. Thanks to all the exhibitors who gave up four long days to have their Jacobs on show. We had a lovely get together after the judging sponsored by Connor & Dalrymple and organised by Mary Connor and Angela Christie. Thanks also for everyone’s kind donations especially some very tasty shortbread from a certain member.

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Connor & Dalrymple’s champion aged ewe and Ewen MacMillan’s reserve champion ram lamb at the Scottish National Show with the judge, Siwan Harries

Our Scottish sale has attracted a good number of sheep. We must thank some of our Scottish members who have kindly agreed to sponsor the prize money which has allowed us to increase the prize money on offer. Thanks to Crystalyx and Life-Guard who have once again supplied vouchers and gifts to give out to some of our prize winners. I say again that the move to Carlisle has been a very positive one. A report of the sale will be in the next Journal. Thanks to everyone who supports our sale, we appreciate you all.

The Scottish AGM 2025 is very much under control and I plan to travel with Barbara after the show and sale season is finished to visit the hotel and get the finer details in place Booking forms will be circulated with the winter Journal with all details needed to get members up to the beautiful scenery and hospitality that awaits you from our north of Scotland members.

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Judging of the shearling ewe class at the Scottish National Show

I will get details out of our AGM meeting and maybe an open day too. I will keep everyone updated. Many thanks to Scottish committee members who give up their time to work so very hard for the Society.

Can I add many thanks to Siwan and her team for the super weekend we had at the Welsh AGM, my Welsh 4 horn ewe made it home to Scotland and has pride of place in my kitchen.

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Connor & Dalrymple’s champion and reserve at Dalkeith Show with the judge, Adam Christie

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Barbara Webster’s champion ram lamb at Fettercairn Show

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Connor & Dalrymple’s champion and reserve champion sheep at Haddington Show with the judge, Mike Munro

Southern Aug 2024

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SOUTHERN REGION

Regional Contact Member – Peter Gorringe

Well a good year for rain and the grass has grown well and a busy summer for out members.

I would like tow elcome five new members to the Southern Region – Rebecca Homfray, Bedmonton Flock; Mark and Karen Friend, Friend Flock;Charlie Barrett and Georgia Ellis, Froxfield Flock; Chris and Carrie Lampitt; and Nicholas and Emily Fitter, Fitter Flock.

The Southern Region open day, regional AGM and judges’ seminar will take place on October 19th and will be hosted by Hannah Watson at the Canterbury Trust at Woodbridge, Kent, so please support this event.

Wendy Sharp with her champion ewe and Tom Gorringe with his father’s reserve champion ewe lamb at Kent County Show

We attended the Kent County Show which unfortunately did not have the usual beautiful weather but we had a good attendance in the Jacob classes with up to 13 entries in some classes which was lovely to see and a great time was had by all.

At the time of writing Edenbridge and Oxted Show is our next local show and we are hopeful for a good entry.

If you need any advice or help with your flock or the Society please give me a call.

The Gorringe family’s winning group of three at Kent County Show

Wales Aug 2024

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WALES REGION

Regional Contact member – Alison Ross

Firstly, I must introduce myself as your new Regional Contact Member for Wales. Please feel free to contact me anytime.

Welcome to our new members, Mr. Glynn Evans, Mrs. Anne-Marie Coffey and Robert Williams, Mr. John Martin and Miss Julie Gough, Mr. Nick Wileman and also Mrs. Denise Doney.

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James Leonard’s champion ram at the Royal Welsh Smallholder Show

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Gwenllian Evan’s reserve champion ewe at the Royal Welsh Smallholders Show

I would like to thank Siwan Harries who generously stood in as RCM for the AGM year hosted in Wales. I think we can all agree that the event was a huge success; we saw wonderful sheep from some of the leading flocks in Wales, had a chance to catch up with friends (and make new ones) and who knew we could have such fun from a wooden sheep and a piece of string. A big thank you to Lyndon Trumper for agreeing to auctioneer for us.

Every event we hold relies on a team of willing helpers and I feel very lucky to know I have a great bunch of kind and knowledgeable folk to steer me along in my new role.

The showing year in Wales commenced with the Royal Welsh Smallholding and Countryside Festival. A special mention and grateful thanks to our relatively new member who gamely stepped up and took on the Jacob sheep promotion stand (and imagine our horror when we discovered we had been given a stand twice the size we had requested!) but thank you Joanne Roberts and family for your hard work.

The Spring Show is a small friendly show and a good start for those of us new to showing or to give young stock show experience. Congratulations to James Leonard for winning the Jacob championship with his smart shearling ram and to Gwenllian Evans taking reserve championship with her aged ewe. After many successes in young handlers’ competitions, Gwenllian has qualified for the RBST Young Shepherd of the Year final at the English Winter Fair, well done, Gwenllian.

For more shows and results, please follow us on Facebook and I will try and make up a full list of results for inclusion in the winter Journal.

We are blessed with a strong contingent of young handlers competing in local shows. At the time of writing this report I am compiling a score chart for the coming year please message me if you would like one.

The AGM this spring feels like a distant memory and now we enter another year in the breeding calendar. Some of our members will have put the ram in with their ewes and others of us will be holding back to lamb in kinder weather next spring.

The Wales region show and sale will be held on the 21st September at Monmouth Livestock Centre with grateful thanks to Lyndon and Straker Chadwick.

There will be a flock competition in early October, I would like to encourage our new members to enter this as it is a chance to have your sheep assessed by our own JSS judges, they will give you encouragement and advice. I have found this a huge benefit to improving my flock and have enjoyed their visits as no preparation of the flock is required!

We will have a Christmas meal in early December.

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Ewes at the Greenmeadow Community Farm flock in Powys

South West Aug 2024

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SOUTH WEST REGION

Regional Contact Member – Richard Fenwick

Success at the English National

The South West was well represented at this year’s inaugural English National Show at The Royal Three Counties Show. Chris Fisher and Chris Slee made their way north and were both pleased to be well placed in a number of classes. Particular congratulations go to the Sparnham flock which was placed first in the classes for aged Ram, aged ewe, pair of sheep bred by the exhibitor, female champion and best English exhibit with their home bred aged ewe winning the reserve breed champion. Hopefully their success will be an encouragement to others to make the journey north to enter next year.

Aged Rams dominate County Shows

Strong entries from across the region ensured that both county shows were a celebration of the breed. Well done to breed champions, Halsbury Sanpellegrino at Devon County Show and Duxmore Ace at The Royal Cornwall Show from the Halsbury and Kezmor flocks respectively.

Kerry Gaden with her champion ram at the Royal Cornwall Show with judge, Mark Wakelin

South West Open Day

Members gathered at Treven Farm near Launceston, kindly hosted by Steve and Clair Cornelius and coordinated by Steph Jasper. We were very pleased to welcome to the meeting, Janet East, our new chair, as well as Clive Richardson, National Field Officer, who had travelled down from the Lake District to join us.

Chairman, Janet East, and Clive Richardson, National Field Officer, at the open day in Launceston, Cornwall

Chris Slee’s champion ram and Chris Fisher’s reserve champion ewe at Devon County show with the judge, Lyndon Trumper

Philip Warren speaking to members at the open day

Local butcher, Philip Warren, who has a countrywide reputation and supplies many of the top restaurants in London, gave us much to think about with a very informative and stimulating talk about trends in meat markets at a national level. He told us that we have the ideal breed to supply one of the few growing markets for lamb in the country, pointing out that slow growing, lean meat is much sought after among the Muslim communities, encouraging us, as a breed society, to work together to establish a reputation and a supply chain into this market.

Philip Warren brought his sculpture of a Jacob ram’s head to the open day

The younger attendees enjoyed an informative and practical workshop, being introduced to preparing a sheep for the show ring and the basics of handling.

Clive ran a very informative judges’ workshop which all attendees were welcome to attend. He gave us a very comprehensive overview of the finer points of judging, particularly focusing on how to rate the inevitable imperfections that we will always find in our sheep. Certainly lots to think about as we select our own show teams.

Thank you to PRJ Engineering for bringing along a good selection of Ifor Williams trailers for us to look at and for all the work, particularly by the Steve and Clair, for the amazing selection of food, which had a very local theme.

2026 National AGM coming to the South West

The region looks forward to hosting the AGM in 2026. Planning is already underway to organise flock visits and other activities in the Exeter area.

James Leonard’s champion ram at the Royal Bath & West Show

SOUTH WEST REGION

Regional Contact Member – Richard Fenwick

Success at the English National

The South West was well represented at this year’s inaugural English National Show at The Royal Three Counties Show. Chris Fisher and Chris Slee made their way north and were both pleased to be well placed in a number of classes. Particular congratulations go to the Sparnham flock which was placed first in the classes for aged Ram, aged ewe, pair of sheep bred by the exhibitor, female champion and best English exhibit with their home bred aged ewe winning the reserve breed champion. Hopefully their success will be an encouragement to others to make the journey north to enter next year.

Aged Rams dominate County Shows

Strong entries from across the region ensured that both county shows were a celebration of the breed. Well done to breed champions, Halsbury Sanpellegrino at Devon County Show and Duxmore Ace at The Royal Cornwall Show from the Halsbury and Kezmor flocks respectively.

Kerry Gaden with her champion ram at the Royal Cornwall Show with judge, Mark Wakelin

South West Open Day

Members gathered at Treven Farm near Launceston, kindly hosted by Steve and Clair Cornelius and coordinated by Steph Jasper. We were very pleased to welcome to the meeting, Janet East, our new chair, as well as Clive Richardson, National Field Officer, who had travelled down from the Lake District to join us.

Chairman, Janet East, and Clive Richardson, National Field Officer, at the open day in Launceston, Cornwall

Chris Slee’s champion ram and Chris Fisher’s reserve champion ewe at Devon County show with the judge, Lyndon Trumper

Philip Warren speaking to members at the open day

Local butcher, Philip Warren, who has a countrywide reputation and supplies many of the top restaurants in London, gave us much to think about with a very informative and stimulating talk about trends in meat markets at a national level. He told us that we have the ideal breed to supply one of the few growing markets for lamb in the country, pointing out that slow growing, lean meat is much sought after among the Muslim communities, encouraging us, as a breed society, to work together to establish a reputation and a supply chain into this market.

Philip Warren brought his sculpture of a Jacob ram’s head to the open day

The younger attendees enjoyed an informative and practical workshop, being introduced to preparing a sheep for the show ring and the basics of handling.

Clive ran a very informative judges’ workshop which all attendees were welcome to attend. He gave us a very comprehensive overview of the finer points of judging, particularly focusing on how to rate the inevitable imperfections that we will always find in our sheep. Certainly lots to think about as we select our own show teams.

Thank you to PRJ Engineering for bringing along a good selection of Ifor Williams trailers for us to look at and for all the work, particularly by the Steve and Clair, for the amazing selection of food, which had a very local theme.

2026 National AGM coming to the South West

The region looks forward to hosting the AGM in 2026. Planning is already underway to organise flock visits and other activities in the Exeter area.

James Leonard’s champion ram at the Royal Bath & West Show

Percy Clatworthy’s reserve champion ewe at the Royal Bath & West Show

Percy Clatworthy’s reserve champion ewe at the Royal Bath & West Show

Central Aug 2024

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CENTRAL REGION

Regional Contact Member – Kay Carpenter

Open day at the Spottywood flock:

The open day at John and Rachel Richardson’s Spottywood flock in Cheshire was well attended, with members joining us from the Northern and Welsh regions. Our thanks to John and Rachel who were very welcoming and generous hosts. Following a great deal of rain in the days before we were lucky to have dry sunny weather and to enjoy a tour of the flock and a hog roast lunch preceded by a very interesting talk from Jennie from Cheshire Farm Vets on diseases, prevention of strike and preparation for an early lambing. Richard kindly allowed us to go over his pens of shearlings, ram lambs and ewe lambs and I don’t think there was a person present who didn’t have a go to match the judge’s placing. Well done to everyone for joining in but special congratulations go to Rachel Knowles for winning the competition and prising Richard’s bottle of gin off him.

Lesley Partridge’s champion ewe lamb and Bernie Barker’s reserve champion lamb at Hanbury Country Fair with the judge, Wyn Harries

Many shows have been running in the region and showing has again become extremely popular. We have tried to arrange support for classes that have had a lack of entries but this proves difficult on occasion when there are shows on in the same week or even the same day in the same area, but this is out of our control unfortunately.

Please send in any show results with three or more exhibitors from the region to Jane Nightingale who has kindly agreed to collate them all and forward them to our Journal editor for inclusion in the Journal.

Central Region Show & Sale, Saturday 27th July

This years’ official Society show and sale at Worcester is set to have a great turnout of sheep across all classes. At the time of writing, we are in the process of putting the catalogue together. However, by the time you receive this I hope you are home and happily settling in your new purchases. We are grateful to judge, Wyn Harries, inspectors, Scott Dalrymple and Marie Connor and adjudicator, Jean Simmons for all the work they do to ensure it goes smoothly. Also, many thanks to our sponsors JG Animal Health, Pard House Jacob’s & Shelsley Belties, Hillvalley Jacobs, Animac and Estate Country Feeds.

Ridout & Higginson’s champion ewe, bred by Steffan Griffiths, at Shropshire County Show with the judge, Robert Locker

Forthcoming Events 

Sunday September 22nd – Stock Assessment Day (to include Young Shepherds Stock Judging)

Venue: Lickhill Flock, Stourport-on-Severn, Worcs DY13 8RW

The day, open to all members, will include workshops on how to assess conformation and the finish of live lambs to go to market and selecting ewes for breeding and for showing.

The event will include a young shepherd stock judging competition, whereby competitors will judge a pen of 4 lambs, place the group of 4 in order of merit and give reasons for those placings in a short, 2 to 3-minute verbal presentation to the judge. However, everyone attending will be encouraged to have a go at the placings, just for fun. Everyone will be encouraged to use the EUROP 1-5 classification that will be discussed in the workshops.

Anyone interested in the event should contact me at , on 07771 511445 or message on social media.

Jane Nightingale with her champion ram at Ashby Show

Sunday 13th October – Autumn Open Day and AGM at Chatsworth Flock

Venue: Chatsworth House Chatsworth, Bakewell, Derbyshire, DE45 1PP

Ewes and lambs from the historic Chatsworth Jacob flock (member number 00240) have relocated from the estate farm to the paddocks in the farmyard in an area opened to visitors. Jacob sheep have a long association with Chatsworth, stretching back over 250 years of grazing the estate’s parkland.

The farmyard at Chatsworth has a variety of animals including cows, sheep and lambs, pigs, horses, goats and poultry, as well as a milking parlour for demonstrations. Since opening, they have developed a breeding programme for rare and sometimes critically endangered breeds. In 2021, Chatsworth farmyard was awarded Rare Breeds Survival Trust accreditation, recognising their important contribution to the conservation of some of the rarest livestock and equine breeds native to the UK, from Suffolk Punch horses and Shire horses to British Landrace pigs and Eriskay ponies.

We have kindly been invited to hold our Autumn open day and AGM by Izzy Cowan, the Jacob shepherdess at Chatsworth. We shall discuss the intricacies of four horners, as well as any discussion on both 2 horn and 4 horn Jacobs with Clive Richardson, our field officer. Clive will also be holding a judges seminar on the day.

Members, Terry and Bernie Barker, who are currently carrying out their own faecal egg count (FEC) will give a demonstration on how to go about the process….. after we’ve eaten!

Again, anyone interested in the event look out for the open day flyer in your emails or you could contact me at , on 07771 511445 or message on social media.

To contact Kay please email: or Tel 07771 511445

Ridout & Higginson’s champion ewe and Tori Stanley with her reserve champion aged ram at Staffordshire County Show with the judge, Margie Rushbrooke